Star Bucks: the Hitchhiker's Guide to Space Mining
One fuse short of a rocket: The problem with space mining
Open yourself to mania and you can almost feel it, the distant hum of 10 million sci-fi super-geeks quivering in sweaty anticipation: space mining — or, more accurately, ‘off-Earth’ mining — is a thing.
I’ll consider your mind blown. Sure, it’s an abstraction so loose in origin, so wild in vision, and so totally unhinged in the meaning it gives to ‘feasible’ or even ‘possible’ it borders on satire. But it is indeed a thing.
‘Thing’ is used here in lieu of a general consensus. In its literal sense, off-Earth mining refers to the exploration for, and exploitation of, minerals and resources on objects beyond Earth but within the solar system, including asteroids, comets, moons and planetary bodies, like Mars.?
But to take that as univocal would be to forget this space mining business is a research project in primis.
MetalsTech in talks with third parties as acquisitive strategy ramps up
MetalsTech (ASX:MTC) is in talks with North American-based strategic parties, including Lithium Royalty Corp (TSE:LIRC), as part of the company’s growth strategy to grow its presence in Canada.
The company has already taken its first step on this journey, today (27 September 2023) announcing it has acquired a 100% interest in the 300km-square Sauvolles Lithium Project.??
Speaking to Mining.com.au, MetalsTech Director Gino D’Anna says the Sauvolles deal is only the beginning for the company, with plans to secure further Canadian lithium assets before the end of 2023 through acquisitions or joint ventures (JVs) with other junior explorers.??
‘Everything’s happening at Torque’: Cristian Moreno
Torque Metals (ASX:TOR) has reported ‘exceptional’ gold recoveries in metallurgical testwork completed on drill core samples from its Paris Gold Project in Western Australia. The company’s Managing Director Crisitan Moreno says the forward plan is to keep validating the results. Meanwhile, the first core samples from due diligence drilling at the New Dawn Lithium Project, also in Western Australia, have been dispatched to a laboratory.
Technology Metals and Australian Vanadium agree to $217 million tie-up
Technology Metals Australia (ASX:TMT) and Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) have agreed to a $217 million merger in a synergistic bid to become Australia’s first operating primary vanadium producer.
The companies will merge via a proposed scheme of arrangement under which Australian Vanadium will acquire 100% of the Technology Metals shares on issue.
Under the terms of the scheme, each Technology Metals shareholder will receive 12 Australian Vanadium fully paid ordinary shares for every fully paid ordinary TMT share held at the scheme record date. If the scheme is approved and implemented, existing AVL shareholders will hold 58% of the combined group and existing TMT shareholders will hold 42% of the combined group (prior to any dilution associated with the proposed placement).
OD6 a ‘breakaway’ from peers as share price re-rating looms
OD6 Metals (ASX:OD6) Managing Director Brett Hazelden believes the rare earths explorer could be on the cusp of a share price re-rating with a busy Q4 2023 ahead, which includes a potential Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) update.
Speaking to Mining.com.au following the release of a Breakaway Research report last week that valued OD6 at $0.90 – more than 5x its current share price of $0.165 – Hazelden is optimistic there are triggers ahead for that valuation chasm to close.
“The market has seen a flood of juniors jump into the rare earth market in the hope of getting a positive announcement out. But the reality is that most of the results for these other companies have been low grades of 800ppm or less, which we believe is just not economic.
There has also been a raft of people doing poor metallurgical testing using techniques that would never be viable in a production scenario. So unfortunately, this has seen a number of investors being burnt, and in turn this has driven the sentiment of the sector in the wrong direction."
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